Fabric and yarn therefor



Patented May 31, 1938 UNITED STATES 2,119,468 v FABRIC AND YARN THEREFOR Charles P. Coulter, Jr.

, Great Neck, N. Y., as-

iiiignor to Nufibre Corporation, New York,

No Drawing. Application February 7, 1938, Serial No. 189,173

, 4 Claims.

This invention relates to fabrics and to yarns for making the same. The fabrics with which the present invention is concerned are intended primarily for use in the manufacture of wearing 5 apparel, such as, for example, ladies dresses,

ladies and mens coats and suits, etc.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide fabrics of the class referred to characterized by high'resilience and high resistance to creasing or wrinkling.

Another object of the invention is to produce a fabric which while resembling linen in appearance has a characteristic feel or hand which differs from that of linen in that, among other things, the present fabric has a softer feel, and although it has a degree of crispness it is not harsh or stiff, and also drapes well.

Another object is to provide a fabric which in its undyed state has a-distinctive naturai color 20 resembling to some extent the appearance of linen but differing therefrom in that there is present in the fabrics made in accordance with the present invention a. blend of light and dark colors which produces a very pleasing and distinctive characteristic appearance.

A further object of the invention is the provision of yarns for making fabrics having the above described properties and which can be woven in accordance with any of the conventional methods of weaving for obtaining fabrics of the desired texture.

. The above objects of the invention and other objects which might hereinafter appear result from the provision of a yarn spun from a mixture of cut flax staple and cut rayon staple, the latter being known as spun rayon. More specifically, the yarns made in accordance with the present invention are produced by spinning the yarn by the cotton spinning process from a composite cut rayon staple, the lengths of the staple both in the flax and in the rayon being preferably about one and one-half inches. The flax staple utilized in preparing the yarns of the present invention differs from the natural staple, which is of long length, in that the former, although produced from the natural staple. is much shorter. The cut rayon staple is dis inguished from ordinary rayon filaments of indefinite or long lengths,

although the rayon staple utilized in accordance with the present invention is prepared from such long filaments by cutting the same into uniform lengths of the desired size.

An important feature of the present invention is the utilization of flax and rayon staple cut into mixture of uniform lengths of cut flax staple and uniform lengths short enough to be spun together by the method of spinning known as the cotton Spinning process. The flax staple of uniform size of short length is obtained in accordance with the preferred method of the present invention by cutting slivers of flax staple of natural length into uniform lengths of the desired short size. By thus cutting the slivers to produce the short length fibres, uniformity of length is assured and waste is substantially wholly eliminated. The cut flax staple thus obtained is mixed with the cut rayon staple in the proportions required to obtain a yarn of the desired character. In the commercial practice of the present invention, fabrics having the above described characteristics have been produced from yarns in which there is utilized about 30% of cut flax staple and about of cut rayon staple, both the flax and the rayon staple being of uniform size and about one and one-half inches in length.

In the preparation of the staple for forming the yarn,the cut flax and cut rayon staple are first thoroughly mixed and thoroughly and uniformly distributed throughout the mass. After the fibres are thus mixed they are run through a machine known as a picker and thereby matted or formed into a lap which is ordinarily about one inch thick. The next step in the method is to card the lap whereby the fibres are arranged in parallel relation. Then the carded lap is drawn or drafted preliminary to the spinning operation, and finally the fibres are subjected to the spinning operation, in accordance with the cotton spinning process, for forming the yarn.

The yarn thus produced may be made into fabrics of various weaves and finishes and may be treated, dyed, or otherwise finished in accordance with the intended use of the fabric and the desired appearance thereof. When undyed and unbleached the fabric has, as indicated above; a characteristic color which although somewhat similar to that of linen, differs therefrom in that the present fabric has a distinctive appearance due to a blend of light and dark colors. Of greater importance, however, is the high resilience or crease-resistance of the fabric, which obviates the necessity for subjecting the fabric to any special treatment for obtaining a wrinkle-resistant finish.

The important distinctive property of the fabric produced from the yarns made in accordance with the present invention, that is, the high resilience or crush resistance of the fabric, is a surprising and unexpected result because both linen and rayon yarns and fabrics are characterized by the objectionable quality of low resilience or low resistance to creasing or wrinkling, and it was therefore to be expectedthat fabrics produced from yarns composed of flax and rayon would similarly have low resilience and low resistance to creasing, crushing, or wrinkling. Another characteristic of the composite yarns of the present invention which impart a desirable property to the fabrics made therefrom is the greater bulk in the yarn, that is, the yarn spun in accordance with this invention from out flax and cut rayon staple is not as compact as either pure linen yarn or as pure rayon yarn, but on the contrary, as just indicated, the present yarn is more bulky due probably to the fact that the fibres do not mat together to as great an extent as either pure linen or pure rayon staple because of the differences in the diameters and the longitudinal structure of the respective fibres, the

. linen fibres being comparatively straight and.

rigid, and the rayon fibres being flexible and tending to curl.

In producing fabrics from the yarns made in accordance with the present invention, the fabric constructions are preferably such in which the yarn need be no finer than about 20's cotton yarn count, and no coarser than about 6s yarn count, although it will be appreciated that finer or coarser yarns may be utilized within suitable limits, depending upon the desired construction and strength of the fabric produced therefrom. Also in constructing the yarns in accordance with the present invention, it is preferable to utilize a twist not less than that indicated by the twist factor of 3.25 times the square root of the yarn count. With a twist of this order in the yarn of the present invention, there is obtained approximately as much coverage as with other yarns, as for example, spun rayon yarn of a lower twist -factor of, say, about 2.9, due to the fact that in the yarn of the present invention the fibres are less dense or not as compactly arranged.

While I have described more or less specifically thepreferred yarns and the fabrics made there-- from, it is to be understood that variations therein may be made and will occur to skilled artisans, particularly in view of the present disclosure.

ing or wrinkling.

Therefore, I do not wish to be limited precisely to the yarns or fabrics herein described, except as may be required by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a fabric composed of composite yarn comprising cut rayon staple and vegetable staple which in its natural state is relatively long, such as flax, said initially naturally long staple being, in said yarn, in the form of cut staple, and said out flax and cut rayon staple each being of about one and one-half inch lengths, said fabric being characterized by high resistance to creasing or wrinkling.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a fabric composed of composite yarn comprising cut rayon staple and vegetable staple which in its natural stateis relatively long, such as flax, said iniitally naturally long staple being, in said yarn, in the form of cut staple, and said out flax and cut rayon staple each being of about one and one-half inch lengths, the cut flax and cut rayon staple being in the proportion of about 30% cut flax staple to about 70% cut rayon staple, said fabric being characterized by high resistance to creasing or wrinkling.

3. As a new article of manufacture, composite yarn comprising cut rayon staple and vegetable staple which in its natural state is relatively long, such as flax, said initially naturally long staple being, in said yarn, in the form of cut staple, and said out flax and cut rayon staple each being of about one and one-half inch lengths, said yarn being characterized by high resistance to creasing or wrinkling.

4. As a new article of manufacture, composite yarn comprising cut rayon staple. and vegetable staple which in its natural state is relatively long, such as flax, said initially naturally long staple being, in said yarn, in the form of cut staple, and said cut flax and cut rayon staple each being of about one and one-half inch lengths, said yarn having a twist of substantially not less than 3.2 times the square root of the yarn count and being characterized by high resistance to creas- CHARLES P. COULTER, JR. 

